


Rituals

by supercalvin



Series: 13 Nights of Halloween [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-21 20:54:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2482106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercalvin/pseuds/supercalvin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin has locked himself in the bathroom because he doesn't want Arthur to see him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rituals

**Author's Note:**

> I love Halloween. And when I say I love Halloween, I mean it is a full month celebration of Skeletons, Pumpkins, and Ghosts. So here is my Merthur Halloween celebration.
> 
> The 13 Nights of Halloween Series is exactly what it sounds like: for the next thirteen nights until October 31st (Halloween) I will post one ficlet (roughly 500-2,000 words) which relates to Halloween. Some might be Fluff and some might be Horror. You'll never know.

“Merlin?” Arthur called into the house, putting the bag of food in the kitchen.

He heard a loud bang, a curse, and a door slamming.

“Merlin?” he called again. He followed the sounds of things falling over and he ended up in the bedroom. The bathroom door was shut, but he could hear Merlin behind its closed door, cursing a shampoo bottle.

“What are you doing here!” Merlin squeaked behind the door.

“Um…” Arthur said, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Merlin. But you gave me a key and I’ve been sleeping here for the past week.” _Technically_ they hadn’t moved in together, but it was only a matter of time. Arthur wasn’t ready to give up his flat just yet, even if he sometimes preferred Merlin’s home near the woods. It was isolated with the woods right outside the back door, but it wasn’t too far from the city either.

“I thought you were gone for the evening?” Merlin’s voice sounded like he was trying to be neutral, but Arthur could hear that he wished Arthur was gone. His heart gave a tug and sadness crept over his body. He had hoped Merlin would be happy that he didn’t have to go into the city for a night conference call. He had even bought groceries for dinner.

“No, the meeting got canceled…Look, I’ll just go.” Arthur could hear his own melancholy tone and hated that it was vocal.

“Arthur! Wait!” Merlin knocked on the door, as if to get his attention.

“Merlin, it’s alright. I’ve been spending a lot of time here anyways.”

“No! By the gods- Just wait, you prat!” There was a long pause but Merlin still didn’t open the door.

Arthur sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the bathroom. “At least open the door.”

“NO!” Merlin shrieked. He heard Merlin knock something over and another round of curses. “I mean…Look, okay, I… I thought you were gone for the night so…Iseldir called me and I thought I was free for the evening so I said yes and…” Merlin gave a sigh big enough that Arthur heard it through the door. “I’m needed at a ceremony tonight.”

Arthur had known Merlin was a druid when they first started dating. It hadn’t been as odd as Arthur thought it might have been. Merlin went to regular religious meetings (usually on the full moon, and he didn’t mind when Arthur made werewolf jokes). Iseldir was the head warlock of the local druids, sometimes calling Merlin for ceremonies or meetings. As far as Arthur knew, Merlin was actually a powerful warlock, and Iseldir respected him greatly. One time the head warlock had even called Merlin because he needed help on a ceremony that only Merlin’s magic would control.

Arthur laughed, feeling relieved. “Merlin, you idiot. Why didn’t you just say so?” He got up and knocked on the bathroom door. “Come on out. I bought some chicken for dinner. Unless you can’t have meat before the ceremony.”

“No…It’s okay. I already ate…” Merlin still sounded unsure.

“Okay…” Arthur stared at the bathroom door, feeling his brows pinch together. “Should I go? I mean…should I not bother you or something?”

“Um…What time is it?” Merlin asked.

Arthur looked at his watch. “Almost eight. Why?”

“Shit.” He heard more sounds from the bathroom. “I have to go. I told Iseldir I’d meet him at the stones by eight thirty.”

“Okay…” Arthur drew out the word, still wondering about Merlin’s odd behavior.

“Er…Arthur?”

“Yes, _Mer_ lin?” Arthur asked through the door, his voice mocking.

“Can you…can you close your eyes or something? While I leave?”

“In the name of- _Merlin_ , what the hell are you even doing in there? Please tell me there isn’t chicken blood in the tub again.”

“That was one time!” Merlin’s voice rose, defensively. “And I told you beforehand that I was going to do that!”

“Then come out here, give me a kiss, grab your bag, and go to the ceremony! You keep doing this and you’ll be late!”

A whine came through the door. “Arthur…I’ve got makeup on.”

Arthur snorted out a laugh. “Want to look pretty for the ceremony, do you? Come on Merlin, I’ve seen you in makeup, at a club, with _leather_ trousers too.” Arthur was starting to wonder when Merlin became so self-conscious. He was willing to remedy that though, when Merlin came back from the ceremony.

“It’s not…It’s druid…for the ceremony.” Merlin’s low voice wouldn’t carry through the door, but Arthur heard, “Promise not to freak out, okay?”

“If I didn’t freak out when you levitated my mug across a room, I promise not to freak out now.” Arthur didn’t mention that he had made an undignified noise and almost fell out of his chair when Merlin first did magic in front of him.

“Okay.”

The door unlocked and slowly opened. Merlin was without a shirt, only a simple pair of black trousers and thick brown boots. He was indeed wearing makeup, and a hell of a lot of it. His entire upper body, arms, and face was covered in white and black makeup, illustrating the bones beneath his skin. He looked like a walking skeleton. His ribs were outlined, with his spine drawn straight down his chest and abdomen. Hipbones peaked out of his trousers. His eye sockets were nothing but black, but Arthur could see the whites of his eyes outlining his blue irises. Merlin’s cheekbones seemed to pop out even more, if that were possible, with the facial bones drawn on. His nose was covered in black, his plump lips were covered like teeth, and his collar bones looked sharp and cutting.

“Arthur.” The teeth on Merlin’s lips moved as he spoke. “Please stop staring at me like you’re about to have a nervous breakdown.”

Arthur shook his head and looked into the eye sockets-Merlin’s eyes. _His eyes_.

“Holy shit.” Arthur finally gasped. “That’s _makeup?_ ”

Arthur thought Merlin raised an eyebrow at him, but he wasn’t sure where Merlin’s eyebrows had even gone.

“Fuck! Did you draw that yourself? Holy shit.” Arthur took a step forward, taking Merlin’s hand, lifting his arm to inspect Merlin’s ribs. “This looks like it took _hours_.” He ran his hand over Merlin’s side, seeing goose flesh raise over the skin, under the black paint.

“Er…” Merlin’s long fingers, accentuated by the long bones on his hands, self-consciously covered his body. “I’ve done it before. It doesn’t take so long once you’ve done it before.” Up close Arthur could see the black paint covered Merlin’s arm completely except for the top of his forearm and the side of his bicep where white bone was drawn. Merlin was watching him like a cornered mouse (Watching his expression, Arthur now noticed that Merlin’s large ears were entirely covered in black makeup).

Merlin made a whining sound in the back of his throat.  “I know it’s weird, and I don’t want you to think I’m a freak, but this ceremony- well not just this ceremony, but others like it…They’re _common_. I’m going to be doing stuff like this. And I’m going to have to…sometimes I have to draw symbols on my forehead or use chicken blood in the bath tub. And…and…” Merlin looked like he was going to start rabbling for hours so Arthur gently put his hands on Merlin’s sharp cheekbones, careful not to smear the makeup.

“ _Merlin_.” He said, forcing those dark blue eyes to look into his. “ _I’m not freaking out._ We’ve established that you’re a druid and I said that was fine. I don’t mind chicken blood in the tub. I don’t mind that you have a meeting once a month on the full moon. I don’t mind if you have to paint your whole body with paint. What _I do_ _mind_ is when you eat all my _fucking_ _strawberries_ out of the fridge _before I’ve had any_. Okay?”

Merlin barked out a laugh, his skeleton hands wrapping around Arthur’s wrist. His lips pressed to Arthur’s palm. The makeup didn’t smear, making him wonder if Merlin used a spell to make it stay in place.

“Thanks, Arthur.” Merlin smiled, making the teeth on his lips look strange next to his real ones. “Gods, you have no idea how amazing you are. Most people would have freaked out months ago.”

“Well it’s a good thing you’re dating me then, isn’t it?” Arthur smiled back, only to receive a smack to the side of his head.

“Prat.”

Arthur looked Merlin over again, seeing Merlin’s shy expression (hard to see through the makeup) and wondered if he was blushing. “You know, you look kinda punk. You should go out and scare some obnoxious teenagers or something.”

Merlin snorted with a roll of his eyes and pushed Arthur aside, to grab his bag off the bed. “Been there, done that. That was the first thing I did when I had to do this ceremony for the first time. Will helped. Completely worth it.”

Arthur laughed, “I’m asking Will about that the next time we see him.”

“He does love to tell that story.” Merlin stuffed another bag full of makeup into his backpack and put it on his shoulder.

Arthur grabbed him a jacket and made him put it on. “It’s cold, Merlin.”

Merlin muttered, “Such a nag” before putting it on.

“You’re going to be late.” Arthur said, when Merlin was still fumbling with the bag.

Merlin looked at the clock on the bedside table, “Oh shit! I’ve got to go. The ceremonies at nine and Iseldir wants my helps with the readings-“ Merlin was rushing out the door, already listing the things he needed to do, almost tripping on the rug in the hallway. He turned back to Arthur, who had followed him, grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek. The paint didn’t stick to Arthur’s skin but it was rough against his cheek. “Sorry, we can have dinner another night. That good?”

“No worries, Merlin. Get going.” He pushed his boyfriend down the hall.

“Don’t wait up. I’ll be home by one, at the latest.” Merlin said as he opened up the back door leading to the deck that looked out onto the woods. “Though it might take an hour in the shower to get all this stuff off me.”

“No spell for that?” Arthur asked.

“It never gets it all off.” Merlin shrugged and looked at his elbow as if the paint was its fault.

“Merlin?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re going to be late.”

“Fuck!” Merlin jumped like he had completely forgotten the ceremony. He pressed a kiss to Arthur’s lips and ran down the steps. His voice trailed behind him as he jogged into the woods, “Bye, love you!”

Arthur laughed, “Love you too. Be careful!”

“I’m always careful!” Merlin jogged backwards, stumbling over a root, right before Arthur lost him in the darkness of the woods. Arthur shook his head, a smile on is lips, as he went back into the house.

**Author's Note:**

> A little bit domestic and a little bit spooky. I have no clue where this came from and we will never know.  
> [Art Here!](http://whimsycatcher.tumblr.com/post/130605503628) by whimsycatcher


End file.
